Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Again, on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, I thank the Senator for raising this issue which affords me the opportunity to outline to the House the situation regarding primary and post-primary school teachers who are also members of the local authority.

Where a teacher in a primary or post-primary school is an elected member of a local authority, paid absence of up to ten school days in a school year may be availed of in order to attend council meetings but only when such meetings are held during school opening hours. Prior approval must be obtained from the employer, that is, the board of management or education and training board, depending on the school type. Substitute cover is not provided by the Department of Education and Skills for such absences. In general, substitute cover is provided by the Department in the case of

I presume the Senator will not be happy with the reply in light of what he outlined. I have nothing further to add. There are other types of leave that do not allow for substitute cover, including exam and study leave and extra personal vacations. I cannot really add anything further but I will bring the concerns the Senator raised to the attention of the Minister. Perhaps the Senator might be able to follow this up with a personal letter to the Minister.